And Aren’t Deterred By COVID-19 Protections On the roads and in Main Street shopping districts, the summer of 2020 was, not surprisingly, a bit muted. But aside from the social distancing and the face masks, things almost looked normal on the beaches. Last weekend, despite the cooler late summer weather, people flocked to the shoreline in impressive numbers. Nauset Beach in Orleans had hund...

CHATHAM — The town has raked in a $295,000 grant from the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council to help design a new shellfish upweller facility at Stage Harbor. The grant will fund the next phase of engineering for the upweller and multi-use waterfront facility at 90 Bridge St. The funds will cover designs, permitting and bid document preparation for the projected $3.4 million project. The final plans m...

CHATHAM – It's official: Whales are more popular than sharks. Or, at least, people were willing to pay more for the painted and decorated whales on exhibit in Kate Gould Park this summer than they were for the sharks that populated similar displays in the past. Auction of the whales in this year's Chatham Merchants Association-sponsored Art in the Park brought in a total of $82,480, which beat out the previ...

CHATHAM – Owners of the Monomoy Theatre are tallying signatures collected during the past week on a petition to call a special town meeting to alter zoning to allow redevelopment of the historic Main Street property. After a drive-through signature collection Monday, owner Greg Clark of Alexandra Properties said about half of the 200 signatures necessary to call a special town meeting had been collected. “We'r...

Hopefuls Seek Nod For U.S. Senator, County Commissioner With all eyes on the November presidential election, officials are reminding voters that the state primary election is set for Sept. 1. While there aren’t many headline-grabbing races, Democrats will decide between incumbent Edward Markey and challenger Joseph Kennedy, III, for U.S. Senate, and will choose among three candidates for the chance to seek two...

CHATHAM – You are out for a quick fishing trip and unexpectedly the surf overtakes your boat, flips it over and you find yourself wet and standing on top of what was the bottom of your boat, stranded in the North Inlet connecting Pleasant Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. No other boats are around and it is late afternoon with the tide ebbing and visibility down to less than half a mile. This is not what you imagin...

CHATHAM — Whether they’re bringing Social Security checks, prescription medicines, mail-in ballots or just friendly letters, mail carriers are a lifeline, and the U.S. Postal Service needs our support. That was the message from a handful of protesters who held signs in front of the main Chatham post office Saturday, one of many similar protests held around the nation. And judging by the number of waves and h...

CHATHAM – The contours of Cape Cod’s iconic coastline tell a story of a landscape dramatically and dynamically defined by Atlantic storms. At the heart of the peninsula's narrative are the nor’easters and hurricanes that shape and reshape the Cape’s shorelines each year.  This summer, the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is setting records. As of early this week, the Atlantic had experienced 11 named storms...

CHATHAM – At least six times this summer, water samples taken at Pleasant Street Beach have failed to meet state water quality standards, resulting in the beach being closed to swimming. The cause of the high Enterococci counts, however, remains a mystery. “I am concerned about it,” said Natural Resources Department Director Robert Duncanson. “Clearly there's something going on down there that's unusual.” ...

Andrew Harding’s Lane Beach Safer After Inlet Shifts CHATHAM — Though the move is largely symbolic, the board of health this week voted to lift a ban on swimming at the end of Andrew Harding’s Lane in the Old Village. The ban had been in place so long that current members of the health board didn’t seem to know it was in effect. “It’s not as treacherous as it was when the board of health originally banned...

CHATHAM – In a report earlier this year, a finance committee housing working group raised the question of what the town's future will look like given the wildly escalating cost of real estate. “Will we be a vibrant, thriving and hard-working community comprising a range of age, race, family size, income, occupational prospects and other demographics?” the report read. “Or shall we continue on the arc of exclus...

CHATHAM — While sunbathing and swimming is a bit more complicated than it used to be, thanks to rules designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, those rules don’t seem to be keeping people from heading to the beach. Parks and Recreation Director Dan Tobin said sales of beach parking permits are on par with ordinary years, and the town has already sold more weekly permits than any other year in his memo...